64 replies to this topic

[blacknoise]

What once was the voice of the masses, has become the sales-pitch for companies globally. Personal value is now determined by wealth or bling. Words have become empty rhetoric about fantasy and people are given props for what they say, instead of what they do. What was a Battling of skill in reality has become a mc, b-boy battle on computer game. The virtual or FAKE world castrates the reality or words and physical expression. The black experience is watered down and packaged into music videos & movies that have their agenda. So its no co-incidence when some white kid glorifies the gangster lifestyle and mentally associates all black people with that lifestyle. This is their first exposure to us and that image sticks when they come into contact with all black people. It widens the divide mentally and even convinces black people that this is all they are and can ever be.

It is the reason that black people spend their money on bling to hide the worthlessness. Outer bling, exposes the lack of inner worth. The cars, the women, the houses, etc. are all just physical confirmation of our lack of self-worth. Wanting to sign a deal, when we know we get 10% of our hard work. Letting radion in South Africa play mostly foreign music and supporting it instead of our own. Buying foreign products and then complaining that no work exists all point to a LACK OF LOVE FOR SELF & PEOPLE. It is a OUR STATE OF MIND in Africa and globally that empowers the SLAVE MASTERS. We support them irrespective how they INSULT us daily in their media globally. We buy thier food, when we could have grown our own, we listen to and buy music from their rappers when we have so of our own who cant sell 10 CDs they've created themselves. We pollute around us, because we see ourselves as dirt, we kill our brothers and sisters, because we see our own worthless reflection in their eyes, we pass on the AIDS virus to those who loo like us and we hate us, so we hate the them in us. Our politicians have been eductaed by them to have their own individual and political and tribal agenda first before the agenda of the masses. We have more children than we can afford and then beg for help from government and international aid organizations, instead of practicing restraint and LOVE FOR THAT AFRICAN you have just brought into the world. Every people have their own interest at heart, except Africans, because we have internalised our hate for ourselves.

Hip Hop on thier radio perpetuates this agenda and it impacts on our minds by making it OK for them to show our sisters and mothers looking like they are CHEAP. It internalizes in peoples minds that this is all that we are. Their version of us. In the history of humanity Europeans have commited world wars, mass murder of cultures, polution of the planets through corporates, colonialism, the slave trade or black genocide of which killing the jews was but a part of and many more evil things ... the question is then why we only associate civilization and advancement with people of European decendants and not these evils. I ronically in the eyes of the world, the black man is the boogie-man or face of evil or savage or voodoo or dark continent ...

It is beyond time for REAL HIP HOP ACTIVISTS TO TAKE ACTION, but also for others to read more than just each others unimformed rhymes that spit empty words that have no meaning.

Emile of Black Noise
"Their revolution is being televised, by their monopoly control on the media"

[MicWizard]

What you saying i feel, there's nothing more disturbing than all the people who see themseves as they were taught to see themselves "stupid" .We were taught that in order to be superior you have to make someone feel inferior we are too scared to look into ourselves 'coz we feel worthless dissing each other in order to to make ourselves feel worthy

i dont know if i was suppose to post but i was jus' feelin' what you was sayin'

.r.e.s.p.e.c.t.

[nii]

@blacknoise

man i ws fckin touched by a wisdom..this wht i've bee talking aba..
i wanna stress mine to the blingy thing..

WTF is wrong wif our blck rappers?Is hiphop all aba money,cribs,hoes,ice and record deals?..
Can't they teach the lil ones thru music? jus listen to most of black rappers and it doesn't make sense..some do..but the majority over shadows tht..
And the most annoying, is lavishing their worth on MTV cribs when those ppl behind the whole shit sees them like worhtless savages..I think it's aba we the black ppl stand..the black hiphop community shd stand up and preach conscious and reality stuff..
I sometimes become so much mad when i listen to immortal technique cuz i ask maself wht the fck is the blck heads doing?All they preach is rides,sex,cash and senseless music..
Dont they feel ashamed when a latino rather fights for the voice of black ppl?

if am not dreaming then FCK IT..

[TeeZeR]

blacknoise said:

What once was the voice of the masses, has become the sales-pitch for companies globally. Personal value is now determined by wealth or bling. Words have become empty rhetoric about fantasy and people are given props for what they say, instead of what they do. What was a Battling of skill in reality has become a mc, b-boy battle on computer game. The virtual or FAKE world castrates the reality or words and physical expression. The black experience is watered down and packaged into music videos & movies that have their agenda. So its no co-incidence when some white kid glorifies the gangster lifestyle and mentally associates all black people with that lifestyle. This is their first exposure to us and that image sticks when they come into contact with all black people. It widens the divide mentally and even convinces black people that this is all they are and can ever be.

One of my favourite people on this site is MELANIN :idea: :roll: ...go to the MURDA COMMERCIAL HIP HOP THREAD and read her initial posts in that...they will anwer this paragraph. Basically, you are applying a stereotypical view to all this, re-read that thread and maybe you will have some other view of all these. I do not agree with what you say here...as much as truthfully it seems, it's also destructive and demotivating. If you are so keen about all these wrong-doings, why not promote what you think is right about hip-hop, make posts about artists that are holding your views down! And you can't tell me that there are none!

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It is the reason that black people spend their money on bling to hide the worthlessness.

nikka...i won't even comment on this, i am not worthless, my parents are not worthless, if you are worthless and suffer from self-esteem problems, then go see a shrink...don't come out blurting such mythical statements that you have no proof of.

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Outer bling, exposes the lack of inner worth.

Your philosophies are good, but it's just those talks that mainly come from walkie talkies! People who are all talks, how we are being deprived, enslaved, and all that crap...and guess what, mostly it is these people that are runninng scanners over their hearts and showing the results on the overhead projector....as if it's everyone's problem!

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Letting radion in South Africa play mostly foreign music and supporting it instead of our own.

I don't know man, you should be more involved in the movements, push the struggle, get facts... because if you were...you wouldn't be saying such things!

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Buying foreign products and then complaining that no work exists all point to a LACK OF LOVE FOR SELF & PEOPLE. It is a OUR STATE OF MIND in Africa and globally that empowers the SLAVE MASTERS. We support them irrespective how they INSULT us daily in their media globally. We buy thier food, when we could have grown our own, we listen to and buy music from their rappers when we have so of our own who cant sell 10 CDs they've created themselves.

Speechless... :cry:

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We pollute around us, because we see ourselves as dirt, we kill our brothers and sisters, because we see our own worthless reflection in their eyes, we pass on the AIDS virus to those who loo like us and we hate us, so we hate the them in us. Our politicians have been eductaed by them to have their own individual and political and tribal agenda first before the agenda of the masses. We have more children than we can afford and then beg for help from government and international aid organizations, instead of practicing restraint and LOVE FOR THAT AFRICAN you have just brought into the world. Every people have their own interest at heart, except Africans, because we have internalised our hate for ourselves.

Cliche...true indeed, my point...what are you doing to change this? If i wanna buy a 6 Series, and someone driving a Toyota Tazz tries to give me advice, i definately will not listen to that person, as hush as it always sounds when i tell people, it's true...it's reality...and people should learn to face it!


I don't know man, sorry if i sound like i'm crushing what you say down...let this be a discussion, maybe you might show me more, or someone else might! Let's continue to elevate each other! :wink:

[melanin]

Quote:
Buying foreign products and then complaining that no work exists all point to a LACK OF LOVE FOR SELF & PEOPLE. It is a OUR STATE OF MIND in Africa and globally that empowers the SLAVE MASTERS. We support them irrespective how they INSULT us daily in their media globally. We buy thier food, when we could have grown our own, we listen to and buy music from their rappers when we have so of our own who cant sell 10 CDs they've created themselves.



I'll never buy anything because its south African, I'll buy it because its worth its price...and if its local...all the better,. South african artists are lazy, they mostly produce crap and expect support based on their south africanness...work hard for everything you get...start producin sh.. thats up to scratch, and you will have my unequivocal support

I dont buy a nas cd because he's NOT south african, i buy it because he has put in some work and it reflects on the product

[blacknoise]

I often write to get feedback about where the hip hop community is at and what they are willing to do for change to come ... The results are interesting and too often they are sad. In all that I have done through Black Noise, the African Hip Hop Indaba, African Battle Cry, Pop Glide Crew, Conquering Lions, releasing others CDs, DVDs, books, Our Hip Hop, Heal the Hood, Da Juice,Hip Hop Mag, etc. It seems that only when you making money for the status quo, our people and community is the happiest. We celebrate those who work for them and do their advertising and we praise that. I never suggested that we buy whats not "good enough", just ask ourselves the question ... how did we come by the concept of what good enough is and what is the measuring stick for that and what are our points of reference??? How do we make things better for us as Africans, if we always looking at working for them. And the previous brother that asked what do I do to change all that ... its not a "he said she said" question ... its a question we should all ask ourselves first before pointing fingers at each other. Learning is about always wanting new information and thats how they have stolen everything we have created and made money off our creations. We make music, the Japanese and Europeans make the equipment and the technology that our music gets recorded and played on. We talk about how we gonna blow up, while others make billions off the process that is needed for the masses to hear you so that you can blow up BRIEFLY. All we do is the music, they make the samplers, the computer programs, the hard disks, the CDs, the DVDs, the machinery that create that, the machinery that gets printed on, the ink for the machine, the plastic rapping around the CD, the barcode and all the machines that make that process possible. Then we wonder why our families dont get out of the poverty we find ourselves in. At the same time these people find us laughable with our big talk gangster crap, when they make so much from our ignorance. We are allowed to flash the scraps they leave us in music videos to distract our people and next generation from the real wealth that is in the creation of the machinery that makes the real money. Heres another example. You made the CD and have to market it ... who owns the radio, magazine, TV, bookstores, record stores, websites, internet, phone-tones, tour busses, sound systems, venues, security companies, limos, lighting, ticket outlets, etc ... do you get my point of "how deep the rabbit hole runs "??? We are blind and need to see ... ja, that what that biblical line actually means.

If we celebrate those who work for the system, our kids will pay the ultimate price. They will be "cannon fodder" for capitalists mind-control and be disposable casualties of greed ... it is already happening. So you're rich, so what ??? We should ask ARE YOU A DESCENT PERSON that has concerned for the PLANET? We want to buy new commodities, when our home (THE PLANET) is burning down, OUR ONLY HOME is being destroyed by these greedy bastards making us believe being rich will somehow give back our clean air, our rain-forrests, our oceans, our extinct animal species, our silence, OUR HUMANITY ... Hell, No ... so I am speaking of the bigger picture, than just buying whats good enough or a specific car or signing a deal ... Im speaking about REAL HIP HOP, bigger than LIFE ITSELF ...

We are at war ... its mental ... think or sink
Emile YX?

[addict]

lovin this thread...but i go with tazzer n mel...
1 thing that bugs me abt em so called consious rapers or wateva
they quick to point tha finga at other cats...what are they doin?
n all ya biliv in that christ sht...n ya know it says so on the revelation sht
that music - homos - n every sht ya bitch abt was gonna get this huge...
before tha second comming...its like tryna sell the phrase "world peace"
what wud be tha point of the second commin
they may all seem not acceptable to society - but they gods prophecy 2..
so who are u to stop that...u cant n it wont stop....awerness penetrated a long time ago...

[GERM]

interesting topic

we could always flip this sht on them...

make them work for us...

all we need ta do is...

use their resources to a point where we can stand on our own(i.e get em ta sponsor us on some sht, till we've come up with enough capital ta start our own sht...and by then, we would have learned their ways of doing things...mix that sht up with the african way(which they have no clue or knowledge of,ignorent americans)...but instead of following the same BLING, FCK W***S and all that bullsht, we'll use it ta uplift our african brothers and sisters...influince life thru beautiful...consious...music...

just a thought

[Jahari Kavi]

props to the dude that started this thread....I wrote a myspace blog about this not too long ago....record executives always use the excuse of making the same "hit" records, because songs with actual substance behind them won't sale......that theory is BS....The Beatles and Bob Marley had A LOT of social commentary within their songs and they sold millions and millions of records world wide.

[blacknoise]

The person that spoke about us using their sponsors to get funds to learn and then create something thats our own for our own ... good idea ... know anyone that has done that yet ??? They will not allow you to use their systems to get your voice out to the masses. They own all of this and they can make you seem like the biggest idiot to your own family with that ability to brainwash them. I have a question for you ... how much local, non American hip hop do you listen to and OWN. In order to flip things on them you need to have people that think like you do about support for Africa and Africans and how many people do you know like that. I have released CDs, DVDs, Books, Amazing MCs like Isaac Mutant and not even people from this community purchased that ... They always speak of American artists as their point of reference. Mind Control is what that is. We need to change our state of mind for real change to come about. Fundamantally how we think is the problem.

Change needs mass support and that can only happen with a change in the way people think. Collectively working for better results can only happen when we see the common end result. We disagree for the sake of disagreeing, which is OK, but what action will change the situation that we find ourselves in. In my opinion I think that attached to us taking their cash, we need to seriously have Africas future at heart or we will just be another version of them wearing the mask of Frantz Fenon. Like so many politicians who fall pray to the greed of helping their own families before having the interest of Africa at heart. That is hate for self and kind that I speak of. They supposed to democratically represent the masses of their people, but their first concern is their family and tribe before the people. So if you have millions and you have no love for the people or continent, how will that benefit the mass??? Politicains work to plough millions into crime, AIDS, starvtion, poverty, etc ... but what money is funded to really address the cause of our problem ... OUR STATE OF MIND and their EDUCATION will not benefit AFRICA, because it is about oppression of Africa or the masses by a few in the defence of Capitalism. Our true AFROCATION will not be funded by world bank or IMF because that will set us free from their economic trade slavery they have imposed on us.

So as you can read, I am not talking about the aquisition of money as the solution to our problems, but a change in the state of mind of people in order to really change the situation. These corporations owe no eplanation to anyone after polluting the planet and destroying cultures and secies in mass. Life that existed on this planet that our childrens children will never know, because they created something that could not be held accountable, yet has the rights of a person. It controls the planet and is married to politicians. It is the force behind George Bush and the force that keeps the world quiet when they take advantage of some small country. Its the force behind Isreals war on Palestine and the world keeps quiet. It is the force that controls the minds of the masses without them even knowing it. All we can do is direct people to places where they can get counter information. We need to watch things other than their TV documentaries and read things oter than their magazines and books....

To be honest with you my brothers and sisters, it is easier to just not know and not care, but as an African I am tied to all life that sprung from our mother Africa and thus am unable to turn a blind eye. This information has truly made me a blind man see and a mentally dead man rise from the that state of mind. I cant help but fight for the planet, as not all of us can afford a space ship to escape when it becomes non-profitable to live here. I hope I reach a few, who will reach a few more ... A people united can never be defeated ...

Freedom is attained mentally and internalised spiritually and acted on physically.
Emile

[GERM]

i appreciate u responding to this sht...@NOISE

All im saying is, not enough people are thinking the same thing...
and it is very difficult ta convince an AFRICAN artist that they can make a change
without having to be controlled by a Record Label...
So by getting sponsorship from people(internation companies) that know this sht (though they'r using it the wrong way),learn the so called "game"(to me this sht is serious), and move the fck on with the knowledge and the money(as much as we'r doing this mainly for the love, money does and will play a major role in this fcked up system, like it or not)...build something that will stand for what real AFRICAN hiphop is...i luv this hiphop culture, and honestly believe im living it, and when i look at how far it has gone to date, from where it was...we've made real progress...people like ZUBS, PROVERB, OPTICAL ILL, PRESSURE POINT, P.O.C, THUMI & VOL., MAX-NORMAL, the late DEVIOUS, HHP, ZULUBOY, REASON( hype vol), MYKBETH(hype vol), RAHEEM, PARADOX, BLACKSMITH, LEXICON, PROF DECK, HYMPHATIC THABS, CASHLESS SOCIERTY, MAWETHU, H2O and anyone else supporting this real movement i give props...the DJ'S AND THE B,BOYS and everyone else involve...im on a mission ta make a change, but for me, it has to be done thru these ignorent companies from across the globe, not saying all of them now...there's real heads out there as we'll...maby that's where we should be looking to get in...TALIB, IMMORTAL TECH, COMMON, MOS, KILLAR PRIEST, WORDSWORTH and all these cats...maby that's where we should be targeting, ta break into the international market, and spread the real AFRICAN story...

hope what i have said made sence... :wink:

[blacknoise]

I know that most people think that our solution is with their strictures and yes, it will be for a few, but thats all they can assist really. The rest will just have to benefit from those who have already made the first tpes in that direction to get into bed with the enemy of the masses. You see, some have already opeed that door for themselevs and have made money for them, so they are friendly assitance of the system and not a threat ... they like when you are working for them, but thats only a job for a few at a time, while the masses work for that few and these few become the black faces of their agenda, so obviously you get brothers struggling becoming hateful of those few brown noses.

You see this happened throughout Africa, with the result of people of colour fighting amongst each other resulting Rwandan genocide fighting for the scraps that they already exported. I know its difficult to see the connection, but it all is. Real money can be made and I have been able to survive from my love for hip hop balanced with work for South African government using hip hop to teach about issues that affect our communities like crime etc. This is our money from South African tax payers and being used for us by us. Its not as much as we should be getting for hip hop activism, but its easier to apply for than that of corporates. Then real power in the culture is the understanding that each show we do is our last advert and that people will pay to see a show if it is a good show and they will invite you back to their school or buy your CD if you are considerate of the audience and what are you doing to develop your audience. Most MCs wait for deals and they have no idea how to entertain the crowds that pay to see them. This will not result in success, because they forget this is part of the entertainment industry and what are they doing to entertain people. AGAIN A STATE OF MIND. We are so busy being hard for our small group of friends that we forget that for the culture to truly be supported and grown, we have to leave a winning impression on the audience every single time we represent South African hip hop anywhere. We are its only promoters in this country and just because you have a MIC, does not mean that you should MC. Some people are good at doing recordings in a studio, but thats not where most people will get to see you and will you be a good ambassador of hip hop?

Real cash making is about mathematics and knowing that each school has 1000 people and that if you charge R2 per child for a show you will get R2000 for 30minutes show and that if you do 2 shows = R4000 a day x 1 month (20 school days) = R80 000 = good mathematics and you would have reached 20 000 young people and then its easier to approach a sponsor to cover the cost of the Sound etc ... You see thats what we dont know ... the mathematics ... add to your R80 000 your CD sales, DVDs, book sales, group poster sales, etc ... BUT you need a good show that will cover issues that schools want to get to their students like DRUG/ AIDS AWARENESS etc ... but everyone wants to be famous immediately and get that international deal ... when in reality their performances stink and they perform to others who say they are tight, but these are not honest professional people who know what will sell or take to be a success. I have been surviving by doing these tye of tours in Cape Town. It is also about your sacrifice of what you earn into the next project. Since 1999 I have paid for Black Noise to tour Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland ... when we started I took R50 000 I earned over the years and invested it into flights, while asking friend in Sweden to book enough shows that we could return to South Africa with a R10 000 profit for each member of my crew. During our first tour we slept in gym/ dojo for a month, but we make that sacrifice because of belief in ourselves and members of the group understood that they would not waste cash during tours on unnecessarily things that they could survive in South Africa. Added to that we would take CDs, DVDs and books along to sell while on tour and never did a bad show to ensure that next year we would be invited back and we have been invited back since the every year. We head there again in October this year. You see we can make money, but are we mathematical about it and are we willing to sacrifice??? I also just completed an album with Jamayka Poston who is in Angola right now selling copies of the CD infront of their radio station where people buy up to 5 000 plus Cds in one day from the artist. You see, Angolans know that support for what is from ones country results in money for the people from the country .. Something South Africa still needs to learn. Thats where the real money is ... in changing the state of minds of the masses to BUY SOUTH AFRICAN for SOUTH AFRICANS. Good quality CDs, shows etc will get people to want them back if they offer somthing thats South African. USA dont care if you're from SA, they have millions of MCs they can make money, what makes you different for them to want to listen or sign you??? Thats what we have to ask us and we need to be mathematical about it all.

Peace ... I hope this makes sense to you guys
Africa can only liberate intself when African supports Africans - STATE OF MIND -
Emile

[GERM]

Thas real knowledge rite there...

I really needed to here something like that...

and your point is felt @ Noise...

but what my consern is, still...

there's not enough people willing ta make the sacrifice like how u did...

they claim to be real, but when it comes down ta put in the work, it's a different story...

rite now, im working as a Graphic Designer, and im tired of working under someone...

i've had jus bout enough of that bullsht, and it's only been a year and a couple a months...

i feel i have the tools, and the knowledge ta make real cash outa this sht...

It's the capital that forces me ta stay on and save some sht ta start something, reason im trying
by all means ta get clients independently so to speed the process up a bit...

reason i mensioned International Sponsorship, im thinking of the skillz i could acquire from these people, so to use it down here...

im also into video editing, their technologies are far ahead of where we'r at rite now...

If you look at music video quality down here, it's nuthin ta b proud of, not saying that we should do that typical commercial sex sells bullsht...but the quality...the consept...the story line, we jus dont have that here...and that is where im getting at, when i say we should look at international sponsorship....

i commend u @Noise on what u and a whole lota cats have done ta get the south african story out there, that's some real sht, and hopefully in the near future I can design somethin for yall, and we can trade skillz, coz i do write sht(lyrically) on that consious level, and i do believe that my Graphic Design skillz are on point, and I do feel that something needs to be done to get that real presentation of AFRICAN hiphop globally...so far we've not doing that effectivelly, hence the quality of RSA music videos and all that...

and again, I feel what u said bout the Mathematics and how alota cats are clueless about it and how it works :wink:

[Aka from Entity]

Very interesting thread, but heres my 2 cents....

First of all, BLACKNOISE IS LEGENDARY....and its almost too dope to be able to holla at ya.....But with that said:

Lets not forget that Hip Hop also serves as an escape from everyday life. From pain, crime and all the things we see everyday that make the world all the more depressive...For some Hip Hop is the only way they can take time out from gangs, disfuctional families and the like....

Although the objectivication of women and the gloryfication of violence is totally unacceptable...we have to realize that a benz in a video, or a video shot on location where life is made to look care free can actually be part of the whole appeal of Hip Hop...it helps us escape what we see in real life.

Not to say there is no place for social commentary (like Chuck D said, "Hip hop is the Ghetto's CNN")...but Hip Hop artists can be likened to super heroes for kids who actually have none in their lives...and sometimes the unrealness of a video helps a person aspire to that lifestyle, or success.....

Thats my take...

LBG.

[blacknoise]

Peace my brothers and sisters. We debate the content of the rhymes, instead of the marketing and thse behind the marketing of a specific image. we have no say in what gets played. I agree that hip hop is all tyoes and sounds and topics and thats important. BUT, the real issue is the chice of what gets rotation on national and internbational channels ... Who decides that and how does that benefit them. Ofcourse the owner of a multi-national company that owns a radio station, TV stations and record label will sell the artists that they own and thus they will also feature products that they sell thats related to the company in that video and thus encourage the masses to buy that. This is the real issue. We dont see who decides what gets played in the media and how that is controlled. We debate things that we have no control over. THEY DECIDE. We are slaves to their decision of what gets rotation in their media. Solution is to create our own media sources and accept that we cant not counter this unless we boycot buying their publications or switch off our TV sets whe that song is playing that makes the world think that stereotype version of who we are.

MCs talk about first working through the system and then once they have their cash they can move on independently???? Thats being unrealistic. You either a slave or a free person. They will not let you use their system knowing that you will benefit independently afterwards. We need to create our own and boycott/ Ban ourselves from supporting their system. We cant see a solution because they wont let us see one. I have previously broken don how we have to be mathematical about our financial success, but brothers want instant solutions and they know this, so they sell that lie and we fall for that generation after generation. The only ones who benefit from their system are those who come first and the sign the rest to that same system, while taking a cut off the profits after the slave master has take theirs. Truth be told, some people only know how to be slaves to them and want to have a pay-check handed to them by their slave master who takes care of them. This is what Africans or and MASSES do not want SACRIFICE ... they do not want to take the hard route, they dont want to beleive that 45 million people are playing that lottery similtaneously and that they stand a one in a 45 million chance of winning. We dont even see how much their status quo makes millions from setting up the lottery and owning the blue-print to it and how they make money off a national family concept that we should learn to create and own ourselves. Imagine South Africans decide to spend R1 on South Africa each day they would have raise R45 million rand per day x 7 =s a sh#t loud of cash for the people of the country. So imagine how much money is being made by fuel companies from taxi drivers and them in turn from South Africans. Imagine if you pay R15 per day for transport x 30 million people in South Africa, how much is being made and who is getting that money??? What company owns that franchise ... like Metro -rail and Golden Arrow and Taxi services and how do they treat the people that they serve on those services ... You see its the same with record labels, until we boycot them and not buy from them, they will treat us like they teach the people on taxis and trains in South Africa. They take their power for granted because we have yet to see our financial contributions to them as our only strength in this capitalistci society. When we call for mass stay aways, others fear small losses, while others take advantages of these gaps for their benefit. If we had national or collective solidarity, we would be able to have more of a say. Picketing or mass marches do nothing to change their views, because they are not losing any money. They only sit up and take note if we collectively cripple their finances, becuase that is all they are interested in. Our voice is only considered if we remove our money from them.

So my brothers and sisters, as you can see ... it is not an easy road to attain this better create society we speak of and those who have walked this path before are everywhere in our society of creative people. They are in the factories talking about a time when they were on the TV and being famuos and having the world believe that they were getting rich, while in actual fact they were working for the sons of the fathers slave master, just camouflaged as industry.

Change takes SACRIFICE, DISCIPLINE and DEDICATION TO A CAUSE ... do we love ourselves enough to be serious about creating that change. Spend your money on those who will create that change. Be the change you want to see.

An enslaved mind is more powerful than a physically enslaved person.
Emile YX?

[blacknoise]

American Hip Hop is first on everyones lips and attahced to their ears or playing all our clubs, but no one asks who makes all that money from the CDs, DVDs, clothing, chains, airplay on global radio, TV, etc ??? Yes, you see the artist wearing all this expensive sh*t to outwardly display their riches, but you never see the 90 times that is made by the owner of the record label who gets a percentage from everything and then also can market their own clothing through the artist or the alcohol drink that the artists mentions in the video or the product they endorse ... These are the real millionares and we are working for them ... as artists and also as the general global slave population. We dont see our cash working for them. We buy from them and go to concerts and our DJs play their songs and we have a few locals on our radio stations and we wonder why our children dress like them and think that we are idiots to try to even compete against them, when they have tight videos and insult our hard working parents ... who are also slaves for buying these idiots as role models for the their kids. A mother working for a clothing company that is about to loose her job, decides to buy a JayZ top that is not made here or her kid wants to be a rapper, so she buys him a Missy Elliot CD that is not from here and wonders why her kid cant get a deal or make money from his talent ...WAKE UP SLAVES ... Do you think that these people buy whats from Africa ??? Hell, NO, they dont even know that you making money for them here or care seeing they make 10% of the profit from that amount.

We are slaves because we know this, yet let them continue because we say it cant be changed ... well, if you not doing anything but bitching about it, yes nothing will change, but if you DONT BUY THEIR STUFF & SUPPORT YOUR OWN, things will change. If you attach more value to your money and insist that they give you what you want ... you factory will employ more people, you could even become the owner of such a place and you kid could get locasl to buy his CD because we support whats from Africana dn Africans are being empowered by African money ... Its ironic that a song like Mbabe - The Lion Sleeps tonight is associated to South Africa and Africa as the biggest selling African song and its about our SLUMBER, AFRICANS BEING ASLEEP . You see lions hunting at nigt are a threat and dancerous, but we are asleep, we are not a threat because we have NOT AWOKEN from our sleep state of mind. This Capitalist world will not help free Africa. Africans need to WAKE UP and FREE ITSELF. Hip Hop needs to see its power right now in Afrca, but not to get a deal or try and get to perform with Jay Z for free as an opening act, but as a REVOLUTIONARY REBEL STARTING A NEW STATE OF MIND. Young Lions need to RISE and FREE OUR MINDS FROM MTV and THEIR BRAINWASHING THROUGH EMPTY HIP HOP. In the same way that they are using HIP HOP to enslave us, we can use it to FREE OUR MINDS. It will take dedication and sacrifice at first, but change will come my brothers and sisters. The more soldiers return wounded from the corporate war, the stronger we will become as they will see the lie for what it is and that will strengthen Africas chances of self sustainability and its people with work and solutions that are beneficial for the majority and not just the few that gather crimbs from the masters table. A sustainable planet and co-existance requires collective action and consideration for all people in the gloabl society. Yes, its being idealistic and they will not go without a fight, but we have felt out numbered and outarmed before ... The People Will Govern ... Power to the People

[blacknoise]

Heads ??? ... The South African Hip Hop Community ... I hope you realise that I am speaking to all involved in hip hop culture. Thats the DJs, the MCs, the writers/ graff artists, b-boys/girls, lovers, etc ... This is Hip Hop. I speak to all of them because it was the b-boys and writers that kept the MCs alive back in the day when people just wated to see the dancers and MCs/ rappers were the background music that the dancers just danced to. South African hip hop was silent for so long and the dancer kept the scene alive in each town throughout South Africa. We taught the next generation nationawide and yet MCs seldom speak of the whole culture, yet use the word hip hop to only explain them.

Lets check this out. It is ironically the same that happened in the USA. The DJ was the backbone of the scene and played the local stuff to break it to the masses ... mmmm It is ironic that South Africas best Hip Hop DJs spend more of their time playing American Rap instead of local ... even though they are in rap groups themselves??? What the hell is that. They break the latest USA hip hop to the masses and then wonder why we are in the situation that we find ourselves in. The scene is in this situation because we dont even dance to what is from here. DJs dont play local and the radio never play what is from here. At the core of this is the connection between the record labels and the radio stations and how much money is made off tracks that are owned by record labels instead of individuals in other music genres. You see they back ach other because they make money from each other and the artists that they own. Hip hop does not have that much dance as kwaito, let alone sell its soul as often, so what do you expect ... yes we will struggle.

Hip Hop heads seldom use their heads and breakdown the reasons behind the scenes struggle and how what it will really take to get the masses interested ... THINK ... What do the people want, more imprtantly .. what do the people need when it comes to hip hops voice in South Africa. I was at a hip hop new skool dance competition in JHB and I realised the deeper problem. They call their dance Hip Hop like rappers call themselves hip hop when it is not the whole culture or they dont even know what the culture is actually about and insist on using that name to explain what they do. It suddenly hit me that if we had all these kids dancing to local hip hop and realising the real culture as a whole and how they are part of that great powerful culture, we would get so much more out of it as a country. Check this out ... my opservations were how they only danced on USA hip hop dance songs, so the rehearsed on USA hip hop and know all the lyrics and love the videos where they learned the moves from or how they dress what they saw on these videos. Then I saw that if we worked together in mass the culture in South Africa would become South African. If b-boys danced on South African music, they would know South African lyrics and how can that happen when our best DJs are promoting them and not us. Then I saw how these kids parens were paying thousands for shoes and clothing that also came from overseas and how that did not help South Africa and how this was all connected. A kid is an amazing MC, but his folks say get a real job because she buys him USA hip hop and know that you cant live off that here ... We killing wees creativity ... then I see the dance steps all belong to other people from oversea and its the same in b-boying today as well and in MCing as well as graffiti artists and as well as clothing styles and everything else South African hip hop creates ... even if its in Native tongue, its in overseas style of rhyming ... we have lost our creativity WHICH IS WHAT HIP HOP IS ALL ABOUT.

OUR OWN CLOTHING STYLES< OUR OWN DJ STYLES< OUR OWN MC STYLES< OUR OWN B-BOY MOVES< OUR OWN WRITERS STYLE

[Uncaged Thot]

@NOISE i have been following all yo posts religiously and i agree with everything u point out, although i

have my "BUTS"what makes yo thots more valuable though is that u dnt only talk the talk but you walk it too.

my 2 kwacha's worth : let's face reality or rather the other side of reality, most emcees rap on hungry stomachs.

to these emcees hiphop is bread and one cannot delay the hunger, if u gotta eat, u gotta eat. wht i'm saying is that change

must cum yes, and we are the people to bring about change but we have families to feed, clothe and rent to pay. so we

cannot entirely blame the people who end up bowing to the system coz they are merely tryin to survive i guess!

OH AND PLEASE TRY TO SPACE YO TEXT, IT IS NOT VERY KIND TO THE EYES. 8) .....

[LAST DYTE]

OUR OWN CLOTHING STYLES< OUR OWN DJ STYLES< OUR OWN MC STYLES< OUR OWN B-BOY MOVES< OUR OWN WRITERS STYLE
YEAH BLAKNOISE:
I WANT TO ADD SUMTHING FROM DA HEAD ABOVE:
HIPHOP IZ NOT ORIGINATED FROM AFRIKA WE COPY FROM AMERIKA
the following are reasons:

1.globalization(here world became single village thing like democracy,internet.mobiles,tv, and others)
2.neo-colonialism (after colonialism whites comes thru multinational companies and their aim iz profit)--here u can find all record studios ,videos they are 4 money making only.
3.super power economically

BUT AFRIKA MUSIC STARTED LONG CENTURIES AGO/
where ourgrandgrand fathers uses to dance in their ceremonies/harvest /funeral etc....
they use their own materials original to make music.

Right now Its all about new generations of kids who thru tvz they trying' to relate like 50cents.Jigga,Ja Rule etc...
they copy even from clothes up to rhymes and change from english to local languauge:
i can give u one case study am from tanzania and lot of emeez change rhymes like from Jay Z into swahili / majority thru publicity feel iz an emcs him/her self create dat.

And that the problems because no mo' from our own its money as a result they fear.
dUE TO GLOBAL CONNECTION I CAN SAY IF WE WANT TO START OUR OWN I CAN SAY WE CAN STOP RIGHT NOW TO USE BEATS FROM COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM AND CREATE BY USES OUR LOCAL TOOLS OF MAKING BEATS.

THATS ALL ABOUT.....

[Beesting]

@Last Dyte Man I'm gonna have to bite :) the following for the vernec thread (Irap yeZulu isiyindumezulu and the Tswana Thread)

Quote

Local Rappers/"Mcees" copy "clothes up to rhymes and change from english to local languauge.....
....lot of emeez change rhymes like from Jay Z into swahili / majority thru publicity feel iz an emcs him/her self create dat.

:idea: